US Orders Owner to Clean Up Ruptured Pipeline
spill The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Coast Guard issued a joint federal Clean Water Act order to ensure the cleanup of heavy crude oil leaked from a pipeline near Refugio State Beach, Santa Barbara County, Calif. The order requires Plains Pipeline, L.P. (a.k.a. Plains All American Pipeline), the pipeline owner and operator, to continue its cleanup work inland, beachside, and in the ocean, to contain the oil and prevent further shoreline contamination. Today’s order establishes federally enforceable timelines and cleanup requirements for the long-term
Pipeline Breaks on Calif. Coast
Barbara, left a slick extending about four miles (6.4 km) along Refugio State Beach, extending about 50 yards (46 meters) into the water, Petty Officer Andrea Anderson of the Coast Guard said. Anderson said the company responsible for the 24-inch (61- cm) pipeline was identified as Plains All American Pipeline, which had brought in a company to begin cleaning up the spill. Refugio State Beach was closed. The cause of the rupture had not been determined, Anderson said. Richard Abrams, emergency manager for Santa Barbara County, said the Coast Guard, Department of Fish and Wildlife